Mike Y

Hi Mike.  I really like the way you've been able to get a nice precise joint between each piece; which is especially evident in the last two photos in Post #46.  The keel looks great and it sounds like you're off to a great start.
 
Well done and happy modelling!

End result:
 

 

 

 
Now the fun part - cutting the rabbet. I do not have any power tools to do it, so will make some hand jig and will slooooowly cut it with chisel and knife. Now when the keel is assembled, it would be a pity to ruin it by making a bad rabbet.

End result:
 

 

 

 
Now the fun part - cutting the rabbet. I do not have any power tools to do it, so will make some hand jig and will slooooowly cut it with chisel and knife. Now when the keel is assembled, it would be a pity to ruin it by making a bad rabbet.

The riving knife seems like a good idea, with the following caveat, if your saw is not fitted up for one it can be complicated to set it up so that it works as the video shows . I also see that one would need different thicknesses and heights to accommodate different blade widths and diameters. In the video the chap just drops the knife into a slot. the video uses styrofoam as a demo material, I would not cut Styrofoam on a table saw in the first place it is a sticky material that can grab regardless of slitters or knives. He also is using much thicker material than most model-builders would use.
 
All that said safety is a concern, on long work top fingers clamped to the fence work very well. on short work a long push board or push sheet that engage with at least 6 to 9 inches of the length of wood are a hundred times safer than the tiny push stick that the chap used in the video, in fact it is my own personal opinion that the type of push stick that was used in the video should be made illegal to sell because they are inherently dangerous because of their design.
 
There are many approaches to working safely, unfortunately not all of them are transferable to working with very small pieces of wood. I have seen kickbacks and in one case the wood a piece of 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch maple that was wedged between the fence and the blade was ejected horizontally and went right through a gallon can of paint 10 feet away like an arrow.
 
Most of the incidents that occur are combination of poor set ups and rushing and not taking the time to set up the appropriate finger boards or hold down fingers or using a scrap bit of wood as a push tick that only has a miniscule grip on the trailing edge.
 
My advice is hold it down properly in the first place, set the blade height according to the thickness of the wood, use zero clearance insets, change them regularly as they wear or for different thicknesses.
 
Happy cutting
 
Michael

Hip hip hooray!

End result:
 

 

 

 
Now the fun part - cutting the rabbet. I do not have any power tools to do it, so will make some hand jig and will slooooowly cut it with chisel and knife. Now when the keel is assembled, it would be a pity to ruin it by making a bad rabbet.

Just continuing from the previous post, a few more shots of the finished ship:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now, a number of you have been wondering what’s next. 
 
As you know, I’ve been leaning more and more to the “dark side”, but I also want to take on a slightly smaller project - hopefully one that won’t take 19 years to complete!  I’ve also been encouraging my very good mate Mobbsie to come with me to the dark side.  So one evening while we were chatting on Skype, we decided that it might be fun to do a “group build” together and that is what we shall do.  The subject will be a cross-section model of the Bomb Vessel Granado in 1:48 scale.  We will be using plans drawn by Jeff Staudt (available through our neighbour site Model Ship Builder), and we are using timber from Jeff Hayes at HobbyMill. 
 

 
I’ve promised Mobbsie that I won’t start until he’s finished his Aggy, which he reckons is another couple of weeks away (yeah, right - so far, he’s achieved in 19 months what it’s taken me 19 years to do!).  So for a group build with a difference (since we're in opposite hemispheres), keep an eye out for our respective logs - coming to MSW in just a few short weeks.
 
I have also had a hankering to do a non-ship related build, so I will be doing this in tandem.  It is a (relatively) small kit from OcCre of Stephenson’s Rocket. 
 

 
Of course, I won’t be able to run a log of that here, but will provide a link for anyone interested.  And don’t be surprised if you see something “rocket-like” in the background of the Cross-Section updates!
 
Catch you all on the other side.  Thanks for following.       

Well, it’s done!  After almost 19 years in the making, I’ve finally finished my Victory.      

           

       

 

 

The end wasn’t without incident though……… After taking a series of photos before placing her back in the display case, my son came over to give me a hand lifting the case cover back on.  He was at the bow end, and as we were lowering it, he managed to catch the end of the case on the tip of the bowsprit.          

 

Fortunately the damage was minor - a couple of sprung rigging lines that were easily repaired is about all - although it came very close to snapping the Fore Topgallant Mast in one of the places where it had been broken and repaired before.  Close call, but all is well now.       

 

I took a range of photos and have cut that back down to a dozen or so, so with your indulgence, I’ll split these across two posts.

 

Before I do though, as this will be my last progress update, I think it timely to make a couple of observations and offer a few votes of thanks. 

 

When I joined MSW almost exactly three years ago, I had anticipated that I would be finally finished this model in about six months from then. I was, like everyone else who joins this forum, given a very warm welcome and almost immediately the advice and encouragement started to flow in.  Although it took me three years and not six months, the end result I have achieved is light years from what would have been without MSW.  So a couple of thankyous.

 

Firstly to Chuck, for making this site possible and for giving so freely of his time and expertise to help all who venture this way.  Chuck was also kind enough to share with me his techniques for mass production of rigging blocks - a technique that I was eventually able to replicate, thanks to his tutelage.  Thank you Chuck for teaching me to fish.   

 

Secondly, to all of the Admins and Moderators, who also give freely of their time to keep this site running in the way and with the spirit it has been intended.  A more friendly and supportive site could not be imagined.  Thank you ladies and gentlemen.   

 

I’d like to make a special vote of thanks to Danny Vadas. From a very early point in my MSW existence, Danny became something of an informal mentor to me.  But it was when I was contemplating re-doing my stern and quarter galleries that Danny really stepped up to the plate.  Danny did the design work and drawings, including the design of some special jigs, that enabled me to re-make these tricky parts.  Perhaps more importantly though, he gave me the courage to even attempt this in the first place, by offering to guide me through the process via remote control and email exchange.  The results speak for themselves, but while I may have provided the labour, the kudos belongs to Danny.  Thank you Danny - I look forward to sharing a nice single malt with you again someday soon.   

 

It was through this learning experience that I started to gain the confidence to try a few other things for myself as well.  The fleet of four scratch built boats are a direct consequence of this, so again Danny’s mentoring has pushed me to much greater heights in my modelling, and I continue to learn every day.

 

And of course, I’d like to thank all of you who have followed my journey and offered words of encouragement, or have simply hit the “like” button from time to time.  Knowing that you all are watching has kept me going at times, and has also helped to keep me “honest” - there were a number of times when I’ve thought, “no, that’s not good enough - the guys will never let me get away with that”.  And some of you weren't backward in coming forward with constructive criticism - thank you all for that (you know who you are!   )

 

Enough already.  Here are some pics.  A few general shots to start with, and then some more details and close-ups in the next post.

 



 



 



 



 

This last view shows both the rebuilt stern galleries and the clinker planking on the two 25' Cutters:

 

Divarty, congratulations with a decision to redo the planking, I thnk that model is perfectly suitable for it.
Have you considered a boxwood package from Hobbymill? A bit more expensive, but worth every penny. Planking with boxwood is such a pleasure comparing to basswood. I planked two models - Pinnace with bass, and Longboat with box - the difference is very big, boxwood planking is easier, more stable, etc.
And just a mere fact that after initial sanding basswood planks from the kit are like twice thinner than boxwood ones from hobbymill. It means a lot!
You can compare the photos in my logs (see links in the signature). Longboat planked with box is not sanded yet, and already looks much better than basswood after sanding!
 
But beware: when you will try a booxwood package for longboat, you will never go back to inferior wood, and will end up paying quite a lot for a good one!

A little addendum to the story of my Druid.  Grand Rapids (here in Michigan) has hosted for the past six years an event called ArtPrize.  This is a city wide hosted event focusing on art, both professional and amateur.  There is a prize purse in excess of half a million dollars so this isn't small.  This year saw 1536 entries spread over 174 venues.
 
My wife wasn't impressed with a lot of last years entries and said she was going to enter the Druid, which she did.  So I earlier this year became an official entry of the 3-D category (with 346 of my closest friends).
 

 
I ended up being hosted by a seafood restaurant actually directly across from the art museum:
 

 
Over the course of the last week and a half I have been on site talking about my work to over a 1000 people.
 

 
I made up small business cards to advertise (standard fare for this event) but took it up a notch with a customized card holder:
 

 
I do not want to turn this into a 'what is art and what is not' topic but I was the only ~accurate model based entry (all years).  It was a little hard to keep my ego in check with the consistent outstanding comments people directed at me.  There was lots of "My Grandfather / Father / Son would love this / used to do this."  "I grew up with one of these in the house and have always loved them...."
 
The feedback was worth it if nothing else.  I did meet a special youth that I invited over for some ship modeling discussions.  Peter has faced a lot of challenges but has been working on a model of the Titanic with popsicle sticks and pictures (no plans):
 

 
There is a lot of interest out there in models, particularly ship models.  Do not be afraid to engage and put yourself out there,  I can tell you the rewards are huge.
 
Stay Building my Friends,
Mark
 
 

Your precision and accuracy on that scale is fantastic!

Thank you gentlemen...
 
I took a break from framing because I wanted to work on the windlass.  Its 3 1/2" long. I have had the design concept in my brain for over a year and I wanted to see if it would work.  I think it came out really well.  The design is much like the lantern.  You build the windlass drum in sections and slide them onto a 1/16" x 1/16" strip.  There are 65 pieces in this windlass.   All laser cut.  Its a perfect match to the plans.  The hardest part (which isnt very hard at all)  is to bevel the edges of each face of the drum.  This is so they fit tightly together.   Once you get the angle down,  it goes quickly and without incident.   You have to bevel the edges without over doing it because you will lose the original shape of each precision cut piece.  The laser char on the edge actually help out a lot.  You need to bevel the edge until the laser char is all gone and resist beveling further.  
 
 I was worried about this ever since I saw the model in the Rogers collection.  Yes, you could shape the windless drum from one piece and carve the sprockets by hand...but that is a real challenge.  I have seen what David Antscherl did for his Comet model and it scared me to death ever since.  Knowing that others will ultimately build this model I needed to put my kit designer hat on.  This windlass is a MAJOR deck fitting and can make or break a model of a cutter if it isnt done well enough.
 
Ultimately,  this windlass will be painted all red but I am not sure yet.  Its usually shown that way on contemporary models.  If I decide to leave it natural boxwood I will paint the ends of the drum so you cant see the construction method.  If its painted carefully to look like wood, it will look like a solid piece.  This is still not glued together.  The individual segments are just slid onto the stick.  I just have to snip the ends of teh stick off and sand them down after the segments are glued together. Silly me, I got so into making it, that I didnt take any construction photos.
 
That means I will have to build another one at some point.  Lucky me. 
 
Now to take my daughter to the movies and sit with her and about 7 other 14 year old noisy girls.  Lucky me again!!!
 

 

 

 

25' Cutters Ver 2_5 continued
 
The next step for the cutters was to create some mast support bands to attach to the thwarts.  Each cutter has two of these.  I used some thin brass strap and bent them to shape by using a jig, the idea for which I "borrowed" from Ian Major's lovely Unicorn log.  Ian machined his in metal, however I cheated and used MDF for the pressing surfaces, with a brass rod inserted as the former.
 

 
After blackening, they were attached to the thwarts, which had been shaped for the other half of the "hole".  In this pic, the thwart hasn't been finished sanded yet.
 

 
After that, it was a simple matter of cutting the stern sheets, which I did using a paper template and cutting from a single piece of 1/32" pear stock, and then finessed to fit.  The remaining thwarts were cut to size and finish sanded, putting a slight bevel/curve on the upper outside edges.  The timber was left natural, only polished with successively finer grades of sandpaper.  I also installed mast steps under the appropriate thwarts - you can just make these out in the photos.  And here is a finished Cutter.  The macro lens is not my friend today!  I swear those blemishes on the cap rail aren't visible to the naked eye!!!
 

 
Here's a picture alongside the 28' Pinnace for comparison.  Note the very different hull shapes.
 

 
And here's both Cutters, with my usual "scaling" shot:
 

 
The Cutters (and all boats) are now FINISHED!!!!!!  Doin' the Happy Dance!      
 
To celebrate, I thought I'd take a few shots of my Lilliputian Fleet. I had to remove the Launch from it's home on the "mother ship" for these shots, and was surprised by how large it looks in comparison to the others.
 

 

 

 

 
And finally, one last "scaling shot"
 

 
That's it for ship's boats.  I do not intend to make either the Barge or the Jolly Boat.
 
Next up, fitting the Quarter Davits, finish and fit the Anchors, and install rope coils throughout.  Almost there..........
 
 

Hi everyone,
 
I am taking a break from the model for while, and putting the Bellona into TurboCad. I have incrementally made adjustments to my original hand drafted drawings over the years, and discrepancies have begun to show up as I move higher up the model. So, I will make a CAD drawing with everything up to date.
 
In redrawing in TurboCad, I discovered something very perplexing about the stem construction that I had never noticed when I originally drafted it. Using TurboCad, I could not make the lines of the rabbet in the stem fair smoothly on the points of the circles that I could pick out in the Admiralty drawing. When I tried to reason this through, I discovered that the original drawings show a dotted line where the rabbet OUGHT to be, i.e., intersecting the fore perpendicular at the fore end of the gun deck. But the rabbet itself has very definitely moved forward of that dotted line.
 
This looks very intentional in the drawing. But it makes no sense. How can the gun deck stop short of the rabbet? There would be a gap between the deck, and the planking housing into the rabbet.
 
Any ideas?
 
Mark

Hi Alan
 
I hope you are wrong, but I think now is the best time to find out. I'll see how is goes for now, but my biggest problem is getting the planks from curved to straight so that I have something to work with!
 
I may have to pay Rare Woods a visit and see if I can buy some more better wood. 

Expense is the problem at the moment. I've spent so much already and still cannot get nice workflow going. I think the problem might be the wood I'm trying to size, It's all curved to the shape of wine barrels, actually whiskey barrels, so I need to figure out a plan to either work with this wood or buy some wood that is flat and only needs sizing. 
 
I don't know Am a bit discouraged at the moment. WIll see how it goes, but agree I need better tools.

And here is the table I will be building the ship on.
 
It can be hoisted up to between the roof space. I need to do this as my space is limited and the ship will be large 

Hello and many thanks for warm words! Now it's time for litte update. Firs the last hanging knees in the cabin, I have decided to make them a little compass:
 

 

 

 

 
Then completted fore bulkhead of captains cabin, I leave the doors half open as in the rear bulkhead:
 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope I will have more time for modeling now...
 
Alex
 

Thank you for all the "likes" and comments. 
 
Hawse timbers... version 4.5 (1 side was replaced once, the other twice).   The hard part (to me) is that lines drawing give no shape to the bow forward of the first cant fram so I'm fumbling with templates and photos.  I think I'm close.  I've filled in most of the low spots and sanded down the highs.  Cherry has this nice feature  that if it ages a bit and darkens, when you sand it the sanded parts become light. This, coupled with a batten and templates gives you a pretty good idea of where one stands in the fairing.
 
They still need more fairing but I need to hold off a bit.  Frankly, I'm getting tired of the sawdust in the air at the moment.     The reality is, I need to put in the gunport sills and fair those in.  And then the interior.  The deck clamp "knees" (actualy just nubs of wood) need to be worked such to give a smooth sheer to the clamps.  I'll have to hold on the clamps though, until the stern is finished.
 
Yes, I'm avoiding the stern like the plague.  Hahn doesn't give you a template on the plans for the transoms so I'm sorting this out.  I have the stern framing showing height and width of the timbers, the side showing the location and depth but no top view showing the shape.  Again, much staring at the prints and Hahn's limited build photos.  This seems to be one of those areas that are "up to the builder" to sort out like the quarter galleries.   Speaking of which I'm also sorting out that area as it's not really defined on the prints as to timbers.  However, I'm putting together a plan, which if it works I'll happy dancing for weeks.
 
So... to the pictures.  The first three show the hawse timbers and cant frames.  None of this will be visible when planked.  The last is kinda' artsy-craftsy looking at the interior so I can get an idea of amount of fairing in there to be done.
 




 
 
As always, feel free to click on any picture to enlarge it to full size.  Oh.. sorry for the sawdust and debris.  I really need to hit this with the shop vac.

I think like everything else there are trade-offs.  I bought Jim's table saw, disc sander and thickness sander earlier this year.  Are they essential?  Probably not if you like building models straight from the kit.  I'm moving more towards scratching/bashing, and each of these tools have been of immense help to me thus far.  I especially love the disc sander, which is one of those items where I wonder how I could ever do modeling without it.  
 
Once you decide if you have have the need for a tool like these, then there's always the price/quality factor.  You pay a premium for these tools (in my opinion, not too high relative to comparable machines from Proxxon and Micromark), but I have to say that they are built like tanks and should be the last tools like these I will ever need to buy.  Plus, Jim provides incredible customer service.  Case in point, I sent him an email asking a few questions a few months back, and he called me over a holiday weekend, without prompting, to walk me through things.  It's really hard to find that level of customer service these days.
 
I don't know if these tools will make me a better modeler, but now I can't blame my tools (or lack thereof)

Hey all! Small update. I added the clamps holding the bowsprit ropes. I blended them to match the other wood, so they aren't very obvious. I also made the mainstay collar, trying to get it like the real one at the museum. Paintwise its washes and trying to get everything to blend and look balanced. I'm glad I repainted the lower area of the beakhead.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
/Matti
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And just to round out the images of where I spend 10 - 12 hours per day...
 
This is the other side of the shop which is in my basement...yes I know it is an absolute bloody mess.  In total its about 25 feet long and 18 feet wide with that little hallway which leads to my kids man cave.
 
This is my block making station where yesterday I finished up milling 2000 2mm blocks.  Theres a lot of sawdust on the floor....and my shop mascot snuck in the picture.   You can see a drill press behind my hi-tech dust control system...the fan. , Byrnes saw and Sherline mill.
 

 
This is one half of my rope making station...You can see one half of that cheapo ME ropewalk on the table as well as all of the scraps from making a few thousand feet of rope over the last few days....I WANT TO BELIEVE.
 
I will be bringing all of that rope making stuff to St Louis to do a demo for the NRg Conference.   I will be showuing how I make 20 - 23 foot lengths of rope on that little Model Shipways rope walk....thats how I make all of it.
 

 

 
And then looking down the length of my basement and down the 30 foot long hallway to the other end of the rope making station.   This is where I make my rope.  Nothing too terribly exciting.   Alond the wall is my library and a bunch of old models...including the 18th century model that I should really find a better place for.  There is another old Dutch model there too that is crying out for some love and restoration.  I have no idea what it is but looks about 60 - 70 years old.  Maybe.  By God I have to tidy up this place...there is crap all over.  I am embarrassed.
 

Good morning people!
 
I have completed all the aft frames from #19 till #0 The dead flat one. Number 3 is not in the picture. I´ve allready printed out the copies for the fore frames so the next days I will be busy again writing and cutting more patterns. Back to the post #4!!
 

 
 
Enjoy your day.
 
Daniel.

Following the advice from Pops about using the tick strip method (many many thanks to both Pops and Mike Y for the kinds words and advice about starting over again) I peeled everything off.  I spent some additional time truing up my bulkheadss better (easier to see where I was off before) and spent some quality time making up strips and transferring the information to the bulkheads.  
 
I decided against putting on the sheer strake to start with and began planking both sides from the garboard strake on up.  I have 4 more planks per side but it's coming along quite well.  Hopefully I have left enough room on the bow and it won't end up biting me that I skipped putting on the sheer strake.
 




 
Thats all from the shipyard this week, hopefully Ill get some time this week or next weekend to finish up the planking and begin the process of removing the bulkheads.

Today I laser cut the bulkheads and false keel from 1/4' thick ply.  It was comforting that the laser cutter will have no problem cutting through this thickness of ply.  That is really good.  Normally you will see 3/16" thick bulkheads.  I have started to use the thicker stuff in my latest designs.  I think it really helps with the stability and strength of the hull.  Its just a better thickness to go with in my opinion if you choose POB.    When you no longer have to worry about mass production and kit MFG profit vs. loss,  you are free to do these things.  Its a great feeling and in the end make the modeling experience so much better.
 
The parts fit really well.  You can see how large in comparison to the Winnie in the background.  I made the bulkhead former in two pieces as you can see.  I think its important to make these in shorter lengths.  If they are too long they have a tendency to warp and bend.  The slots cut for the bulkheads makes this even more of a problem.  It helps the warping become even worse.  You will also notice the many, many bulkheads.  I have added a picture of the Sherbourne cutter by Caldercraft for comparison of design.  With bulkheads that far apart the planking is going to be tough.  
 
Chuck